So I decided to be honest with my website.
I am lost!
I put my writing down thinking it would only be for a month … which has turned into …. well … more than a month. The problem is, I don’t know how to pick it back up. I’ve tried here and there to work on my book and on the new WIP. I’ve come up with little ideas here and there for other books, but I’m stuck. The ideas just sit, as do my books.
I think it’s a lack of confidence. I don’t know when or where, but somehow I lost all my confidence. My blogs have gone down hill and my writing just sits there staring at me saying, “You don’t love me anymore.”
Oh but I do!!! I feel lost without you!!!
But I just don’t know how to get back to it. I just don’t know how to rekindle the relationship I had with my pen and paper and I know Microsoft Word feels that I have forgotten it. I want to write again, but I don’t know where to start.
Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever just lost that loving feeling? How did you get back?
Natalie Bahm
I take a lot of breaks. Summertime was extremely unproductive for me. When I feel ready to come back to writing I make myself sit down and write for a few days. Usually after a day or two of writing muck, I come up with something worthwhile.
Tamara
I just went through that. I had some crises come up that threw me off my writing for way too long. What worked to get me back on track was a lot like what CKHB (above) recommended. I sat down and read through my manuscript without editing. In doing this, I fell back in love with my story and my characters. I also had a lot of new creative ideas that had not struck me when I had been working on it previously. This completely re-energized me and I was off and writing. Good luck!
Janna Qualman
Absolutely, and I think it happens to us all. I believe extended breaks are crucial, so we can live life, and in the meantime, fill up on rejuvenation. There’s no need to feel guilty. Some part of you just isn’t ready to jump back in yet. You’ll find it again, though. Good luck!
Holly Bodger
I also use that kind of “lost” time to find inspiration elsewhere: in books, movies, people. I know people say you should force it if it doesn’t feel right, but I don’t find this works for me.
I’ve also found that critiquing other people’s works helps immensely. Go onto Critique Circle and go nuts.
Marybeth
I have in fact replaced my writing with reading. I’ve read MANY books in the interim and I think that is what is giving me the itch to write again. So maybe I’m almost there 🙂
Thanks for all the great advice!!!
CKHB
Just start ANYWHERE. Don’t wait for something to feel “right”, because after too long a time, it might feel awkward or uncomfortable, and that’s okay! I put my book down for months at a time, and it IS hard to get back into the swing of things, but you just have to commit to finishing.
Pick up your WIP, and read it. If you’re like me, you won’t be able to help but make some editing notes… this is okay as long as you DON’T GO BACK AND EDIT. No retyping, no re-writing. Just a few handwritten notes is okay, assuming that you’re like me and would go crazy thinking about those mistakes if you DIDN’T make notes.
Now, keep going. Just. Write. Make a commitment to a certain number of words per day, or a certain number of total words by a certain date. Tell your writer friends your goal, and tell them to check up on you. After a few scenes, you’ll be back feeling great about it, I promise. But you have to start somewhere, and you have to keep writing even if you’re not yet fully inspired.
Scott
Marybeth, it happens to me all the time. I used to fret and pull out my hair . . . well, until my hair started to recede on its own . . . and then I read a blurb by a published writer that said something to the effect “I’m not an everyday writer. I wrote this book over a period of . . . years. I’d write for a while. Stop. Pick up the pen a few months later. Stop. Ultimately I finsihed the book.” She’s published many books since. Sorry, can’t remember her name right now, but I’ll pull the book and get you her name.
I think every writer goes through this. I do. Trust me, I do. I’ve gone months with out writing. I normally immerse myself in reading and, at some point, a glimmer of an idea begins to form.
I know it’s hard to do . . . but quit stressing. You’ll write again. I have confidence in you.
Jack W. Regan
This happens to me regularly, it seems. The suggestion about reading books is a good one. But what works best for me is to just keep writing. Doesn’t matter what. Eventually, I get the spark back. Sometimes it takes awhile, but it always shows up.
Karen Amanda Hooper
Read a great book. Or two or three. Other people’s great stories and writing inspires me to get back to my own. 🙂